THE FREE MAPLE LEAF DESIGNS ARE NOW AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD.

YES, these 3 lovely maple leaf designs are now available for download from our http://www.janome.ca website. Our Janome dealers across Canada have had these designs for a while in order to make samples and to make plans for their customers for our Canada 150 celebrations. Some of you may already have obtained the designs from one of our dealers, but in case you did not, please go to this link to download them now: http://janome.ca/projects/tamara_kate/dwnld.html

As a reminder, these designs were digitized for us by Janome Canada Educator, Yvonne Menear as part of our Canada 150 celebrations and with the launch of our Janome Canada 150 special Edition machine model:

Isn’t this machine just pretty and perfect for commemorating Canada’s 150th AND sewing at the same time??

Please note that there are THREE separate designs as pictured in our Canada 150 banner pic above: One outline design and 2 with different stitch types or stitch fills: string leaf and textured fill.  Please feel free to download these and use with our compliments as part of your Canada 150 celebrations.

Obviously you are welcome to resize the designs although we cannot guarantee any results after 3rd party editing. The size in which they are are offered looks pretty good to us and  fits within the SQ14 hoop on the Janome MC15000 (or MC12000). These designs may also be stitched out on our various Elna embroidery machine models as well as the Skyline S9 and Janome 500E; 450E and 400E.

HAPPY STITCHING AND HAPPY CANADA DAY!!

ALMOST TIME FOR THE BIGGEST QUILT SHOW IN CANADA!!!

Yes, indeed, excitement is running high as the countdown to QUILT CANADA 2017  is down to mere days…….it is to be held at the International Centre, Airport Road, Mississauga, Ontario next week Wed 14 June to Sat 17 June. Show hours and all other details about the show may be found on the Quilt Canada 2017 website.

Janome is one of the major sponsors of Quilt Canada.

This year we are sponsoring:

• National Juried Show prizes including Best of Show.
• Janome is providing sponsorship towards the costs of displaying the Ottawa Modern Quilt Guild show – one of the many Concurrent quilt shows which will be on display next week.-  a total of 11 quilt shows.
• Janome is providing 5 machines for the Big Quilt Bee so you can sit and sew quilts for Ronald McDonald house
• In addition Janome is setting up no less than 80 sewing machines in the classrooms for workshop participants so that you don’t have to drag your sewing machine to the show. We make it easy and super convenient for you – all with our compliments. These machines are the fabulous Limited Edition Canada 150 models complete with our pretty rainbow colour maple leaf logo (designed by Tamara Kate of Montreal)

• Janome has also sponsored the production costs of the NJS catalogue so that these will be on sale for a THIRD of the usual price so that you can wander around the National Juried show with your catalogue in hand to fully appreciate and enjoy the NJS quilt show.

Janome has some very exciting things planned for the Janome booth:

• We have our brand new and very fabulous long arm quilting machine making its debut. Quilters will have their socks blown off by this!

• There will also be a wide array of different Janome machines, Janome feet and accessories for sale and for your quilting information.  Don’t forget that all the great Canada 150 Limited Edition Canada 150 machines used in the classrooms will be available for purchase. (Please see Janome dealers and staff on the booth for special show pricing)
• We are also offering ongoing daily “pop-up” presentations for your quilting enjoyment. These will be on a wide variety of quilting related topics eg: ruler quilting; Janome 1/4 inch piecing options and so much more. Do come by the booth to see the times these topics that will be presented by Janome educators as well as visiting guest Janome Artisans.  Trust me on this one……we have been working for months on these and you are in for a treat!!

Yvonne (Janome Educator from Vancouver) will be doing a number of the “pop-up” presentations on the Janome booth

• Bring your Janome quilting queries to the Janome booth during Quilt Canada. We have almost a dozen Janome people: educators, sales staff and Dealers in attendance on the Janome booth to assist you on the biggest Janome booth we have had in Canada! SEE YOU THERE.

As you can see, Janome is fully committed to Quilting in Canada and to the support of our National Quilting organization: CQA/ACC. 

SO….. if you are a quilter and love fiber and textiles, you probably want to be at Quilt Canada 2017 next week. Registrations for workshops are now closed but lecture tickets and Evening function tickets are still available.

 

 

CONFESSIONS OF A QUILTAHOLIC

Yes, I’m going to “fess” up……. I recently powered through 11 quilts for the BIG QUILT BEE (previous blog post about this and read more here if you missed hearing about this) and as I  quilted away I was pondering……… the thought did occur to me that I might be rich if I had a $ for every time someone tells me they have been sewing for 40+ years and they know how to thread their machine; or wind their bobbin, etc……guess what……… I fell into the exact same trap!!!

Confession time: I noticed my tension seemed to be a bit off – the top thread was showing a little on the back of the quilt.

•  I rethreaded & it was much the same.
• I checked the bobbin – no difference either.
• I adjusted needle thread tension and it did improve somewhat but I was still not 100% happy. In my head, I’m blaming the thread………. or maybe I’m so fixated on the task at hand that I’m just not thinking at all??!!
• I continue on and suddenly it hits me between the eyes…..what is that small “pop pop” sound I hear as I sew. Yes, you guessed right: NEEDLE!! I stopped, took it out and inserted a brand new needle. There I had been so very determined to get all these quilts done/quilted that I had simply forgotten to pay attention to the matter of the needle. It was rather blunt to say the least.  I do confess I forgot to change the needle. Guess what happened when I started sewing with the new needle?  No more “popping” sound which is the blunt needle piercing the fabric sandwich …….Perfect tension was restored.

Old, blunt needle out, fresh, new one in. Problem solved

• Gotta tell you that I used a variety of threads – all 100% cotton and all 50wt – so the regular weight cotton for piecing & quilting. To save myself headaches (do you do this? This is not a confession….just simple, honest good sense), I often wind bobbins with the same thread as in the needle. Just makes life easier and in the “old days” when people quilted by hand, there was no choice – the top & bottom thread were the same thread!
• I got lint & fluff forming during all that quilting. There is nothing wrong with this……it is the nature of 100% cotton. Some cotton threads create less “fuzz” than others. I’m not going to go into which ones I used. You will soon discover for yourself which ones produce less lint than others and those will, in all likelihood, become your favourites – just like I have my favourites. Less lint & fluff = better quality thread. This is not a blog post about thread manufacture but if a good quality  long staple cotton is used in the manufacturing process, less lint is the sewing/quilting result. You may end up paying more money for these better quality threads but, in my opinion, it is better for my project and my machine. So what is the confession here? Again I was so focussed on powering through the quilting that I did not stop to “de-fluff” my machine: take  a brush and clean away all the fluff around the needle bar and needle threader area as well as in & under the bobbin case. Take a look at just one of the blobs of fluff I cleared out when I finally woke up to the fact that my machine needed to be cleaned!

Also gotta tell you that I am totally in love with the Acufeed Flex (walking foot) system on the JANOME Horizon 9400.   I was grid quilting these BQB quilts to get the job done as quickly as possible. It truly is amazing: it feeds the layers of fabric from top & bottom so efficiently that everything stayed where it was supposed to be and generally made my job so pleasant & easy.  I totally love it when that happens.

I used a serpentine stitch – see pic above with the blob of fluff – the serpentine stitch shows well there. I was using a subtle variegated thread. (On the Janome Horizon 9400 it is stitch # 20 but this stitch is also available on many of our other models. Look for this little pictogram on your thread chart and try it out. I made no changes to SW and SL – just stitched the default setting. Brilliant. It was quick, not fussy, and I did not have to concentrate on staying exactly in the ditch as I would have to with a straight stitch (confession – this is hard to do when power quilting at speed!)…….and it is not boring – It is pretty and functional.

Acufeed Flex is available on the following Janome machine models: Janome MC15000; MC12000; Horizon 8900 and Horizon 8900 Special Edition; Horizon 8200; Horizon 8200 Special Edition; Skyline S7; Skyline S9; and the Janome Horizon 9400 as already mentioned). Check out these Janome machine models on the website.

Don’t you just loved these quilt blocks? Not made by me. These were done by a Quilting Guild in the Fraser Valley of BC. Janome offered to sandwich & quilt them – Janome is a sponsor of the Big Quilt Bee at Quilt Canada 2017.
I  can see these quilts bringing joy to sick kids……can hear someone saying “Can you spot the giraffe?” “Lets play I spy with my little eye”
Such happy, cheerful quilts for kids. Thank you to all these people who made these blocks and put them together into quilt tops.

Introducing JANOME ARTISAN Tania of “I am Ginger Quilts”

We have pleasure in introducing you to Tania of I am Ginger Quilts  and her blog. You might like to hop on over to these links to see what Tania has been up to with her quilting. We welcome Tania as a new Janome Artisan who will be working on our lovely JANOME SKYLINE S7  sewing machine.  We like Tania’s simple and fresh approach to her quilting. She is a member of the Modern Quilt Guild; loves to draw her quilt designs and then “translate” them into fabric.

We’d like to show you something Tania shared recently with us. They are pic’s of her drawing to design process.  Tania tells us: “This was a simple project and so far I have only experimented with straight line stitching (easily achievable on a domestic sewing machine) but will explore more FMQ in the future.  I find that people are nervous to jump right in to FMQ so if you show them some simple graphic straight line quilting, it builds their confidence and then they can move into gentle curves and eventually into full FMQ.  I have found in speaking with quilters, that they are burdened by the expectation that they can achieve flawless intricate FMQ right off the bat (or batt if you will!)”

We agree with Tania. We find so many people are really scared of Free motion quilting so Tania’s advice and techniques will help put them at ease.  We will share more fresh and fun techniques from Tania in future posts.

Tania’s sketch of simple lollipop type flowers.

Next step is to cut coloured card stock and position the pieces as per sketch. Tania does this as she says it flows well from the first step and even though it is not fabric, it helps her see where the design is progressing and how well it will work in fabric. Its a process which allows her to see how the design adapts from a 2 dimensional sketch to a more 3 dimensional piece of fabric art.

Next is cutting the fabric and positioning those pieces

And the final bound work of art: stitched with easy, simple straight line stitching. Super cute and effective – don’t you agree?

If you are going to be in Mississauga, Ontario on June 16th, why not come to Quilt Canada 2017 at the International Centre – Tania will be on the Janome booth sharing some of these fun ideas.

Favourite Feet

I have a confession to make.

One of my favourite sewing feet is one that I didn’t discover until recently. I quilted many a quilt without it! And now that I’ve discovered it, I don’t know how I lived without it for so long.

Photo credit: Janome.com

A walking foot is also sometimes referred to as an even feed foot. It is especially useful for sewing bulky items – like quilts, or tricky fabrics like fleeces, minky and even vinyl and leather. It has a mechanism that moves the fabric on the top along as the feed dogs on your machine move the bottom layer of fabric. The dual action of the feed moves your fabric through the machine at the same rate and helps prevent puckering and shifting.

I don’t know why it took me so long to discover this fabulous, albeit funny looking, accessory. I can even remember a sewing friend of mine asking how I did straight-line quilting if I didn’t use my walking foot.

Truth be told, I did it, but I was always frustrated with how my fabric puckered and didn’t lie flat.

One of the techniques I use most with the walking foot is stitching in the ditch.

And probably the second most often used technique for my walking foot is for sewing on binding. It’s especially useful with all that bulky fabric.

Many Janome machines include a walking foot. My Skyline S7 came with this one which is a bit different than the one I used on my previous Janome machines.

You can see how the metal piece in the back clips into place.

Note: I’m just pointing to the spot with my machine’s screw driver for reference. To lock this piece into place I just use my finger.

If your machine didn’t come with a walking foot, you can certainly buy an optional accessory to fit your machine model.  Your local Janome dealer can help you determine which is the correct walking foot for your machine.

If you use your walking foot at lot, like I do now, and especially if you are using  it for quilting with a lot of fluffy batting, you may need to provide a bit of maintenance for your walking foot to keep it clean and operating smoothly.

I find my walking foot accumulates a fair amount of lint over time. An easy way to clean it out is to get a pipe cleaner and just gently insert it in a few spots. This is generally enough to keep this attachment running smoothly.

Have you used the walking foot for your Janome machine? Anyone else a walking foot fanatic like me? What is your favourite use for it? If you having used it, are you thinking of using it now?

What’s your favourite foot attachment for your Janome sewing machine?

Andrea Ford of Re:Style Studio Toronto PART 3: DOUBLE PIPING /WELTING

WELTED CORD (“DOUBLE PIPING”) TUTORIAL

Andrea Ford, founder of RE:Style Studio RESTYLESTUDIOTORONTO.COM

@restylestudioTO

Welted cord is a topical trim used in upholstery applications to cover staple lines, most commonly around decorative wooden frames. Many tutorials exist using 2 separate pieces of piping cord or using multiple stitches to sew fabric onto your cord. However, we don’t have time to waste in an upholstery studio, so we’ve use a method for a single pass on the sewing machine…….our Janome 1600P!

Welted cord, itself, is an upholstery supply and comes lashed together on the underside, holding 2 pieces of “piping” cord together. There is some movement between the cord pieces for flexibility to move around curves.

Cut 2-3” wide fabric pieces on the bias – across the grain at a 45 degree angle. You’ll likely need several pieces sewn together to trim your entire chair.

Randomly mix piece lengths together to avoid decreasing seams in your cord. Sew fabric strip ends together, right sides together, and trim seam back to a minimal 1⁄4”. Finger press seams apart. No need to worry about common suggestions about sewing strips together at right angles – the fabric will stretch as you sew it so the seam will lay flat without all the trigonometry.

Place fabric on top of welted cording, right side facing up, and wrap right side of fabric to the underside of the cording (see pic 4). Holding the fabric in place, wrap the left side of the fabric over and to the underside. You will have a tail of fabric hanging on the right side.

Start with the first 4” of cord and place under the (regular, not zipper or piping foot) presser foot of your sewing machine. Stitching slowly, stitch down the center of the cording. Stop every few inches to tighten your grip and continue wrapping the fabric over the cord.

When you’ve finished stitching, trim the fabric tail from the back, as closely as possible to the stitching. The glue will reinforce the seam, so don’t worry about a too-close seam fraying. And if by chance your stitch didn’t catch the fabric wrapped over the bottom, leaving a little opening on the back, you can always touch up those spots with hot glue before attaching.

Traditionally welted cord was made with chunky fabrics like velvet and tapestries. The cord would be stapled onto furniture and the pile of the velvet or the density of the weave of a tapestry would hide *some* of the staples. However, today we use so many different types of fabrics that stapling is not always possible.

With patience and rested hands, you can begin to trim your piece as closely as possible to the staples. Use embroidery scissors or even manicure scissors to get all the threads and fabric ends out of the way. Use a hot glue gun to run a bead of glue 4” at a time and place your sewn welted cord onto your chair. Heat up a glue gun with clear glue sticks. Starting at an inconspicuous spot like the back of a leg or back of a seat, add glue to the chair frame no more than 4” at a time. Be gentle with the glue. If any fabric is hanging from the chair, brush up with the trim and trap it under the welted cord. You may need to add a little extra glue.

When you’re finished adding the trim to your chair end the cord by cutting some of the cord out of the fabric cover, wrap the fabric over the end, and butt up against the starting point. This cord is too bulky to overlap.

Are you a fan of this modern type of trim on upholstered furniture?

 

Andrea Ford of Re:Style Studio Toronto PIPING PART 2

TO PIPE OR NOT TO PIPE

Andrea Ford, founder of RE:Style Studio RESTYLESTUDIOTORONTO.COM

@restylestudioTO

I’m pretty opinionated when it comes to piping details on furniture and decor sewing. From defining visual lines, creating high contrast outlines, learning to sew or upholster properly with piping and the long-term durability of piped edges, there are a lot of cautionary tales to be told.

Piping creates an exaggerated physical outline on furniture. It tailors otherwise unstructured looks and can add interest without gaudiness. On an overstuffed sofa, piping can be used to create definition and balance a marshmallow effect with structure.

However, by definition, it causes your eye to trace along all the edges and calls attention to the precision of points and seams. If your seat cushion cover shifts from normal use, causing the band around your cushion to push forward, you notice it immediately. Piping looks amazing in a showroom or on display, but in real life it takes a lot of maintenance to sit in place properly. Think of that skirt that never sits on your waist as you move, or the lampshade that is proverbially tipped.

Regardless of whether piping that is made from a high contrast or self-fabric, our eyes are trained to follow the lines of a seam. When using printed or patterned fabric, piping cut along the bias almost never aligns with the repeat on faces, creating a new visual distraction.

As a teacher, I encourage students to build up to piped seams while packing patience and precision. Like a highlighter on text, piping highlights every seam and corner. If your sewing stitch is wavy, the piping puckers or is uneven in diameter. If your fabric puckers in a seam, the piped edge is obscured. If a student has limited hand dexterity, the multiple layers of fabric can be cumbersome. In upholstery, the tools and techniques to create piped lines take meticulous handiness.

Making furniture and upholstering, I study furniture wear patterns, ergonomics and how we interact with our furniture. I’ve been asked countless times to “fix” a sofa or chair with worn piping. The remaining fabric can seem otherwise unharmed, but the edges of seats and outer seams are constantly abraded and subjected to pressure.

Contrast piping will show dirt first, especially rub off from dark denim from backs of legs. Piping on arm seams will pick up oils from our skin and are perfect scratching points for pets. The average piped front seam of a seat cushion cover will wear 10x faster than the surface fabric of the cover. In custom furniture and sewing, piping will also cost more in time, labour and yardage requirement.

It was once believed that piped seams in upholstery or decor sewing provided an anchor or reinforcing effect for the seam. However, with today’s technology in sewing machines, overlock stitches and high wear fabrics, it is no longer the case. Properly double stitched seams, even with a top stitch detail, give proper support for long term wear.

With the Janome 1600P, a consistent stitch length and adjustable pressure from the presser foot, piping is easier to sew both for piping prep. as well as the finished seam.

The solid construction of the machine also prevents the waggle dance of the zipper foot that is so common with portable sewing machines.

For stretchy fabrics I avoid cutting bias strips – the fabric will only stretch and grow as you sew the cord into the fabric sheath. However, my love affair with the Janome 1600P has a chapter on how little dispersion happens between 2 layers of fabric on this machine – which is such a key frustration when sewing seat cushion covers and piped seams in bulky fabric.

The next time you plan a sewing or upholstery project, consider the application of piping and how long you want it to look as good as new. There are factors to consider: maintenance required to look tidy, traffic and wearability and if you’re the maker, your own skill level.

Do you have a love affair with piping on furniture and in upholstery?

Do you love the high contrast effect or prefer to have your piping covered in self fabric?

Andrea presents another Guest blog post next Thursday Part 3 PIPING

JANOME FEET AND SEW4HOME

 

You may already have seen this if you took our advice and subscribed to this most useful website: www.sew4home.com. This was published on Wed 3rd May and is a great article about how to use a bunch of our Janome feet when you wish to sew in a straight line. Not necessarily with a straight stitch mind you…….it might be a decorative stitch that you would like keep straight with!  Check it out.  Totally enjoyed reading this and thought we’d share this with you in case you missed it or maybe did not know about this great website.

DO YOU OWN ANY OF THESE FEET?

THE JANOME SLIDING GUIDE FOOT – AVAILABLE FOR 7MM AND 9MM JANOME MACHINE MODELS. Pic courtesy of Sew4home

THE JANOME BORDER GUIDE FOOT – also available for both 7mm and 9mm machine models. Pic courtesy of Sew4Home

THE JANOME DITCH QUILTING FOOT – well this is one of them and happens to be the clip on version. We have several other ones to offer as well. 7mm, 9mm, Acufeed; Acufeed Flex, etc

MORE IMPORTANTLY, DO YOU USE THEM?! 

Andrea Ford of Re:Style Studio Toronto: PIPING PART 1

PIPING IN UPHOLSTERY 

Andrea Ford, founder of RE:Style Studio RESTYLESTUDIOTORONTO.COM 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Piping is one of the key sewing skills used in upholstery, and knowing how to make piping properly – and how to use it diligently requires knowing the difference between common terms and applications.

Let’s start with a glossary of terms:

 

 

 

Piping: Covered cord sewn into a seam. In upholstery we use this a lot in cushion covers and boxy-style sewn arm seams. This beast of a chair was tricked out within an inch of its life with all the kinds of piping!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welted cord: An upholstery application of topical trim, seemingly a “double piping” on which self-fabric is sewn to an inner cord which is lashed together and the seam is sewn into the welt between cords. This is glued or stapled to the final detail of an upholstered chair with wooden trim to cover fabric layer staples. These chairs feature contrast welted cord made from a tight-weave canvas. Look for my one-stitch welted tutorial in coming posts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lip cord: Fabric covered cord stapled to the bottom edge of a chair, ottoman, sofa, etc. This is not needed to be sewn prior to stapling in place. In this ottoman you’ll see a sewn piped edge at the top, along with lip cord stapled to the bottom edge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TIPS:

1. For your own sanity, make sure you stitch an anchor at the start of your piping sleeve – trapping the cord into the seam and attaching it to the fabric – to avoid the annoying pull-through as you work with the unwieldy covered cord.
2. Give yourself a tiny margin (1/8”) between your stitch line and the cord, rather than trying to choke up on the cord like store bought piping. That way your stitch will be buried in your final seam and never peak out. There’s nothing worse than hooking your seam ripper into the fabric covering your piping and creating a hole.
3. For microfibres and linen sewn into box cushions or rectilinear shapes, cut your fabric strips along the warp or weft and forget about bias strips. Bias strips are key for curvy work and to give a little extra ease in tightly woven fabrics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JANOME 1600P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you have adventures in piping with your home decor projects?

Do you love working with it or avoid it in some instances?

Part 2 coming up next Thursday.

SASKATCHEWAN STITCHES CONFERENCE & HAUS OF STITCHES

IT IS ALMOST THAT TIME AGAIN…………….YAY!!! Time to meet friends in a quiet, rural location in Saskatchewan (St Peter’s Abbey in the tiny hamlet of Muenster, SK) and sew, quilt, knit or whatever technique floats your boat….10 whole days of sheer bliss for those who just love to do this sort of thing. I have said it before, and I will say it again, it would have to be a big drama that stops me from attending this Conference each year! It is so rewarding to teach hands on workshops in an unhurried and peaceful setting and get the opportunity to “dig in” and show people just what our wonderful Janome and Elna sewing and embroidery machines and sergers have to offer. Janome Canada is a sponsor of this Conference.

This year I will be teaching 4 classes ( check out the website). Not sure if there are any spots left in my classes but you are more than welcome to call the store to check. In addition to the bumper line up of teachers from far & wide, are the shared meals (that we do NOT have to think about or cook!) and the fun evening activities – including a 15th anniversary Gala and Fashion Show. This will be F U N.

Wendy (on the right), owner of Haus of Stitches and the driving force behind the success of the Saskatchewan Stitches Conference, enjoying a fun creative moment with Diana Best of Moose Jaw. There are many of these moments at Conference ……..trust me on that one!

And there is also a 15th Anniversary Fabric challenge. It was a close call but I (Liz) did manage to get an entry in and these are all currently on display at the Museum in Humboldt. It will be SO inspiring to see what everyone did with the solid cream/beige fabric that was the challenge fabric this time. Only rule was you had to use this fabric and include a maple leaf (for Canada 150) somewhere on the project (even inside was OK). Mine is not hidden……it is quite a patriotic offering as I really am hugely proud and privileged to call myself a Canadian. Wish I could be in Ottawa in July for the Festivities but sadly that will not be. Next best was to sew an entry for this Fabric Challenge! Can’t wait to see the entries. I will take pics and share later at the end of May.

Yes, we can hardly believe it but Wendy (Owner of Haus of Stitches) has been putting on this incredible Conference for 15 years this year. She deserves a huge round of applause as she, her store, her staff and her Conference are very unique and pretty special.  I, for one, will be there with bells on!!! Hope to see you there too.

This star was cut using the Artistic Edge 15 Digital cutter AND applique stitches were digitized with the Simple Cut software which is included with the cutter. The applique was then stitched in the Janome or Elna embroidery machine – so simple, so quick, so much fun!